A self-contained, self-closing toilet lid includes a water reservoir formed within an upper portion of the lid. When the lid is in its vertical closed position, water from the reservoir is allowed to trickle at a predetermined rate into an activation bucket positioned within a lower portion of the lid and pivotally coupled proximate an inner peripheral edge of the lid. When a sufficient volume of water has been gravitationally transferred from the upper water reservoir to the lower activation bucket, the weight of that transferred water causes the activation bucket to pivot, which in turn actuates a release mechanism that allows the lid to hingedly move to an off-center position, permitting it to fall to its horizonatal closed position. If both the toilet lid and the seat conventionally mounted behind it are in the open position, automatic closing of the lid will push the seat to the closed position also.
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1. A self-contained, self-closing toilet lid for hinged attachment to a conventional toilet, said self-closing toilet lid comprising:
a closed fluid reservoir formed within a peripheral portion of said lid, said fluid reservoir containing a predetermined volume of fluid and being divided into an upper portion and a lower portion, said lower portion containing an activation bucket positioned therein and pivotally attached to said lid proximate one side of said peripheral portion thereof; a drip orifice positioned between said upper and lower portions of said fluid reservoir for permitting a fluid contained within said upper portion of said fluid reservoir to flow into said activation bucket following lifting by the user of said toilet lid to its vertical open position; one or more fluid return tubes positioned within said upper portion of said fluid reservoir and communicating with said lower portion of said fluid reservoir for permitting the flow of fluid from said lower portion of said fluid reservoir into said upper portion of said fluid reservoir when said toilet lid is in its horizontal closed position; a hinge assembly for hingedly attaching said toilet lid to said toilet; a release mechanism coupled to said hinge assembly and mounted on a front surface of said toilet lid proximate a lower end of said peripheral portion thereof, said release mechanism being engaged with said hinge assembly when said toilet lid is in said vertical open position, said release mechanism being responsive to pivotal movement of said activation bucket, initiated by the transfer of a predetermined volume of fluid through said drip orifice from said upper fluid reservoir when said toilet lid is in said vertical open position, for releasing said toilet lid from engagement with said hinge assembly to thereby allow said toilet lid to gravitationally move to its horizontal closed position.
3. A self-contained, self-closing toilet lid as in
4. A self-contained, self-closing toilet lid as in
5. A self-contained, self-closing toilet lid as in
6. A self-contained, self-closing toilet lid as in
7. A self-contained, self-closing toilet lid as in
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This invention relates generally to toilet lids and, more specifically, to a toilet lid that automatically operates to close both the toilet lid and a seat conventionally attached behind the lid within a few minutes following use of the toilet.
The problem of a toilet seat and lid being left in the open position following use of the toilet is as old as toilet seats themselves. The benefits of automatically closing a toilet seat and lid are numerous. One benefit is that the seat will always be in position for use of the toilet by females. Another benefit is one of safety and cleanliness in that the toilet bowl is never exposed to pets and toddlers. A third benefit relates to the ancient art of Feng Shui home design, which has become very popular in the United States and which dictates that toilet lids be kept in the closed position when the toilet is not in use.
The prior art is replete with automatic toilet seat lowering devices, typical ones of which are described in U.S. Pat. No. 4,551,866 Hibbs, U.S. Pat. No. 5,101,518 Phillips, U.S. Pat. No. 5,193,230 Guerty, and U.S. Pat. No. 5,289,593 Lawrence. These prior art devices have proven disadvantageous for a variety of reasons. They are generally not self-contained, but are either electrically powered or involve mechanical connection to the toilet water reservoir float assembly or to the toilet flush handle. As a result, they are complicated, don't operate reliably, and are not user friendly.
It would therefore be advantageous to provide a self-closing toilet lid that is self-contained, that does not rely on an external connection to the toilet itself or to any source of power, and that is easy to install on existing conventional toilets.
In accordance with the illustrated embodiment of the present invention, such a self-contained, self-closing toilet lid includes a water reservoir formed within an upper portion of the lid. When the lid is in its vertical closed position, water from the reservoir is allowed to trickle at a predetermined rate into an activation bucket positioned within a lower portion of the lid and pivotally coupled proximate an inner peripheral edge of the lid. When a sufficient volume of water has been gravitationally transferred from the upper water reservoir to the lower activation bucket, the weight of that transferred water causes the activation bucket to pivot, which in turn actuates a release mechanism that allows the lid to hingedly move to an off-center position, permitting it to fall to its horizonatal closed position. If both the toilet lid and the seat conventionally mounted behind it are in the open position, automatic closing of the lid will push the seat to the closed position also.
Referring now generally to
When a sufficient quantity of fluid has entered activation bucket 14, the weight of that fluid causes activation bucket 14 to pivot downward from its position illustrated in
When the first stage release mechanism is fired, sliding bolt 32 moves to the left and, in turn, fires a second stage release mechanism that is aligned with the first stage release mechanism. The second stage release mechanism includes a sliding bar 40 that is contacted by sliding bolt 32 upon firing of the first stage release mechanism. This contact causes sliding bar 40 to move slightly to the left, with the additional urging of a firing spring 36 coupled between the left end of sliding bolt 32 and a bracket 38 fixedly mounted on the lower left front surface of toilet lid 10 and to the left of the second stage release mechanism. When toilet lid 10 is in the vertical open position, a notch in sliding bar 40 engages a collar of a lid release stud 42 that is fixedly mounted to a left side hinge 44, which is in turn mounted to a rear surface of toilet lid 10 and also to a longitudinal hinge bar 46. A right side hinge 45 is similarly mounted to the rear suface of toilet lid 10 and to hinge bar 46. Hinge bar 46 is positioned between a pair of conventional toilet bowl mounts 48. A spring 43 urges engagement of the notch in sliding bar 40 with lid release stud 42 when toilet lid 10 is in the vertical open position. When sliding bar 40 is forced to the left as the result of firing of the first stage release mechanism, lid release stud 42 becomes disengaged from the notch in sliding bar 40, thus allowing lid 10 to move forward to the off-center position, illustrated in
If use of toilet 100 is desired when toilet lid 10 is in the closed position, the user simply manually raises it, alone or together with the toilet seat, to the vertical open position. In the open position, a bumper 60 that is fixedly mounted to right side hinge 45 contacts a levered control rod 62 positioned for generally vertical movement within an inverted vee-shaped opening 64 in the first stage release mechanism, as illustrated in
In some instances, the user may wish to reset the mechanism controlling operation of toilet lid 10 following intiation of a self-closing cycle thereof. Following initiation of a self-closing cycle, sliding bolt 32 of the first stage release mechanism will move to the bottom end of control rod 26, away from release post 27 that is being held in place by tension spring 29. Because control rod 26 has been disengaged from release post 27 by sliding bolt 32 immediately after activation, the user may reset toilet lid 10 to its vertical position because the first and second stage release mechanisms can be reset even though activation bucket 14 is in its lowered position.
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